Sunday fun on the water...reporting for Monday duty...

Piglet decided no way was she gonna jump from the top of Old Bill's dock! "Not happenin'," she said. At least she was brave enough to climb up there......... Pooh, Piglet and Shadow. Good boy, Shadow.
Hey, Grumps, I'm big enough to drive the boat!
Doodlebug playing chamber of commerce and waving to all the boaters...

Yummmm, that watermelon sure is good...
Something cold to drink, Mom? Little Dill is sleeping through all those bumps.......
That's a pretty house up there hiding in the trees. Is that a tree house??? Can we go play there?
Walking the dog, Mayberry style...yes, the dog is on a rope, swimming...with his life jacket on!

Lois, I hope you enjoyed the preview for next weekend. I am at the courthouse today, doing my civic duty, reporting for jury duty. Bee sez she knits nooses when she has to serve. Gets her excused every time. She's a mess. Will let y'all know if I get picked or not. Life is good!

Hillbilly Ten Commandments...GA Caviar.......

The Hillbilly's Ten Commandments
(Actually posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Harland City, KY)
(1) Just one God
(2) Honor yer Ma & Pa
(3) No tellin' tales or gossipin'
(4) Git yourself to Sunday meetin'
(5) Put nothin' before God
(6) No foolin' around with another feller's gal
(7) No killin'
(8) Watch yer mouth
(9) Don't take what ain't yers
(10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff

I was asked for the recipe for Georgia Caviar, so here it is:
Drain cans of: whole corn, black beans, garbanzo beans, black-eyed peas, Navy beans
...or beans of your choice or whatever is in the pantry!
Add: chopped onions, green onions
Add: can of Rotel tomatoes, UNDRAINED
Black pepper to taste
Optional: package of dry Italian dressing
Chill

Very good on crackers, scoops or as a side dish. Enjoy!

Happy Saturday!

Friday was a long day for us. We left about 9a and drove the ‘toad’ over to Dale Hollow Resort, just over the line from TN in KY. We enjoyed the lunch buffet at the restaurant, staying inside in the a/c, rather than eating on the patio. We did have a good view of the beautiful lake...hmmm, we always wind up on water wherever we go, and of course had to drive down and look at the marina after eating. Next we checked out the campground, which has an interesting layout (cg owners like checking out other campgrounds...go figure!)

Some friends back home own property on the Cumberland River, so we had to go look at it and see what it looked like. Dick’s knee was hurting by then, so when we stopped for fuel ($3.81/gal., cheaper than home though), I took over and drove back to the cg...6p arrival. Did I mention a long day???

The kids wound up going to the Wonder Works place...a lot of scientific/virtual stuff that they all enjoyed.
And now we say goodbye to Pigeon Forge and goodbye to the river...today is travel day...then it is time to unload everything, start laundry, go through mail. That’s no fun! I’ll certainly be checking in on all the blogs that I neglected due to the intermittent Wi-Fi service we had in PF. Next time, we’ll just have to park in the sun and use our own satellite.
Happy Saturday, y’all!

Shopping, swimming and having fun in PF...

Yesterday was a good day. Dick and I spent the morning watching the Tour, while the wee girls watched Disney over in their camper. We all needed to pay homage to Wal-Mart, so off we went, followed by lunch at Red Lobster. The girls both received Disney store gift cards for their recent birthdays, so that was on the agenda after lunch. Those "credit cards" (as the girls called them) were burning holes in their pockets for sure.

Then it was back to the cg pool to show off Miss M's newly learned skill of swimming underwater, taught to her by her big sis! They had a ball...

Next, they had to try out their new River Rat tubes, floating down the river next to the cg...
We were hoping that Bee and Sarge could bring their grandsons over for roasting marshmallows, but they had other plans...
Missy and Parker joined Dick for a brief nap on the sofa after all that activity!

Today, Dick and I are heading over to Dale Hollow, KY, in the 'toad' (the vehicle we tow, get it?) just to check out that area for future camping adventures. The kids are staying here and playing in the water. Hmmm, wonder who'll have the most fun? Life is good, y'all!!!

The brakes work great!

Yep, not 5 minutes from our home, there were two cars up ahead, one turning L, one behind the turner. The second car started to accelerate, then slowed down and did a bat turn to the L, no signal, no brakes. Our brakes work mighty fine and we didn't eat their bumper...sheesh...and no slopped out Sloppy Joes! I hate dumb drivers, and y'all wouldn't believe how many folks pull out in front of a big motorhome. Another guy looked like he was gonna pull out in front of us and Dick laid down on the horn. It works great, too. At least that guy waved at us...with all fingers! Missy sat in Dick's lap most of the way here, and Parker snoozed in mine. They were both good.

We got all set up and walked across the campground road to the kids' campsite and watched the little girls play in the river. It is very shallow...a good floating river. Our dinner was good...Haley made broccoli salad, brought sliced cucumbers in Italian dressing, raw baby carrots...and we polished off the cake for dessert. We all took a walk around the campground after dinner to walk off the cake, and the girls played on the playground, went for a swim in the pool and then we all sat around and watched the campfire Logan built....but it was so hot we had to keep moving back from it! Camping with kids requires a fire...but no one remembered marshmellows so we need to pick up some today so the girls can toast them tonight...yuck!

We are having to use the cg wi-fi, since there are too many trees to use our own satellite dish. I remember the days when we always wanted to camp under trees, but funny how that has now changed with the Internet. Their system is slow, because there are too many folks using it! Oh well........we'll manage.

We all plan to go and do a little sightseeing and shopping today. The girls want to either go to the splash park, or maybe just swim in the cg pool. Sooo many choices. Life is good!!!

Pigeon Forge, here comes the Griswolds!!!

We are busy getting the coach all loaded up to hit the road nawth to Pigeon Forge this afternoon, joined by the Jr. Griswolds--Haley and her family. I just made "Georgia Caviar" and have it chilling, and am going to throw some sloopy joe makings in the crock pot to be cooking for tonight's dinner while we are rolling...love being able to do that! We'll be staying down the road from Bee 'n Charlie at Twin Mountain RV Park www.twinmountainrvpark.com, having fun with the kids! Life is good!!!

Fete Nationale, and Le Tour de France

The French Revolution begain in 1789, and Fete Nationale is celebrated in recognition of the storming of the Bastille on 7 July 1789. This is equivalent to our celebration of July 4, our national Independence Day, and a very big celebration all over France each year on July 14. There is nothing quite like seeing the Eiffel Tower with all the lights shining, and/or fireworks all around. My oh my, it is quite a sight to see. And another sight to see is Le Tour de France, the most prestigious bicycle race in the world. Dick and I had the pleasure of being there for the '03 Tour with son Brian (a cyclist) and a young lady, also a cyclist. We followed the Tour through quite a few towns. Brian and friend rode some of the course ahead of the official riders, no small task, and Dick and I would be waiting at a local pub at the end of their ride to feed and hydrate the tired cyclists and load up the bikes. Dick and I enjoyed our pick-up and drop-off duties...and waiting at the pubs because they were always on the Tour route and we got to see the guys whiz by.

The Tour begins the first Saturday in July, so it is going on right now. Thanks to TIVO, we get to watch it every day! It is a three-week race through France, ending in a grande finale in Paris on 7/27 on the Champs-Elysees. We will be watching...and celebrating with the winners!

Brian and I have served on the local organizing committee for our section of the Tour de Georgia, a big deal up here in these mountains. We've got some kick-butt peaks those Tour riders were surprised to find over here on this side of the pond. Here is our proud son presenting Lance with his 3rd place award in '04. Oh yes, Dick, Brian and I are big cycling fans. Can you tell???

Now y'all know just a little bit more about the TravelingBells.